I get that angle but he's not trying to hurt the guy he's trying to jar the ball loose and the receiver drops to the ground really quickly making it worse.
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Seriously I think it's some weird concept of how he says there are four sides of the ball. Offense defense kicking team and punting team.
Edit - I was close. It's actually referring to the fans/stadium atmosphere as the fourth side of the ball. Which is just a lame and weird repackaging of the 12th man.
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We could actually try to compete physically with Pitt, put in a gameplan to beat them and man up. We could always try to do that. I give it 50/50 odds at best. being in lane helps a little.
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If his heart couldn't handle a couple losses in a college season, 12+ losses in the NFL may very well kill him. The man belongs in college. That's his sweet spot. Go to LA and make USC a powerhouse again.
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This is the saddest part to me. If we had any type of consistent offense I'd be feeling pretty pretty good about our chances to win the coastal. Everyone is really just as equally bad though and I don't see us getting out unscathed.
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Thankfully were in a good position as anybody to win it, we control our own destiny and every remaining conference game is winnable I do belive pitt is a bad matchup for us and we will get killed however knowing pitt theyll drop some headscratchers somehow giving us the costal crown.
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We have reached the point in our decline where we truly believe we will need help to win the worst division in the P5. It's a sad state to be in. It could be worse, sure. But it could be a hell of a lot better too
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Optimists: Hey guys, we're going to win the Coastal
Realists: Hey guys, we can win the Coastal this year because everyone sucks. We'll probably take some losses though so we're going to need help to get there
Pessimists: We suck and there is no chance we're going to win another football game ever again
FTFY
Your calibrations are off. I am allowed to be a realist and also be disappointed that our team might need help against a historically bad division. And you can fuck right off with personal advice, thank you very much.
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If Fu and co. can't compete in this division, what makes schools like Baylor, etc. think they can win in the Big 12? this division is terrible, and we have a win in hand against UNC. If we can't win the coastal this year, it's sad honestly
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hell, I'd take 28 PPG at this point. We score 28 against WVU that's a win. 28 vs Richmond and we're less likely to be spending two weeks psycho analyzing every aspect of the offense. 28ppg gets us to 4-0 and looking more favorably at this bye week.
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So what are the Odds that Manny is actually on a hotter seat than Fuente right now? They beat Appy State by a safety that was caused by a bad snap. They beat a coastal Connecticut team that is down right horrible.
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Manny Diaz is definitely on a hotter seat at this point in the season. Miami is having a terrible season compared to expectations (preseason win total was 9.5). History under Diaz says they may collapse and I don't think he makes it through. Fuente is in good shape at this moment but the team has to keep winning or he will be right there with Diaz.
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I agree with this completely. Diaz is sitting on 2-3 and his team has looked pretty poor in every outing. Fuente is sitting on 3-1 with a 1-0 conference record. Even though it hasn't always looked good, the defense is solid and the players don't seem to quit at all. That Miami team is likely to fold by the middle of this month. VT still has a lot to play for. Getting ND and Pitt back-to-back is tough but with Cuse, Duke, UVa, and funnily enough, Miami still on the schedule Fuente has a good shot at steadying the ship at the end of the year if he stumbles in October.
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Yeah he's 100% on a hotter seat. He's doing less with more and I'll be impressed if he makes it through the season. We're not getting rid of Fu before the season ends.
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This might be Friday optimism (and I'm not discounting the VERY accurate assessments of productivity/competence, AND I know it's all conjecture at this point in the season AND...ok I think I've hedged enough), buuuut:
IF - WV nearly beat (4)oklahoma (who may or may not have nearly lost to Tulane,also) and assuming they take it to Texas Tech
AND
IF - Maryland (which barely beat WV) and can at least give (5)Iowa a scare and is generally assumed to be a bottom dweller
THEN::I posit one of two things:
1. Our one loss isn't really that bad
OR
2. Everyone sucks
(3. Tulane is heading to a championship in the next year or two!)
The transitive property always works in college football don't @ me
But seriously it's probably both
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You forgot one key part: Maryland is only good in the month of September. They beat a decent P5 team like Texas or WVU, destroy Howard by 70, and one or two other medium to small wins before they blow it against the good Big 10 teams. It's been this way for years (similar pattern in 2020 despite the weird season).
Not surprised that Iowa is up 35-7 one bit.
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Why did this get downvoted? Interesting point, especially if Fuente is feeling the heat, not sure what opportunity might come along that he'd jump ship for.
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The crew at Iowa Maryland just said that a real hot thing in the past 6-8 years was playing starters on special teams, and because of the lack kickoff rules it makes sense to do and is a game changer.
How quickly we forget.
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Just checked the Maryland score. Was watching movies with the wife and not checking my phone (we were kicking it old school). Just now seeing Maryland getting their asses handed to them.
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The only thing that would have been better would have been if I had watched it.
"Penalties, interceptions, turnovers, those things all fall down the discipline category," Locksley said.
"We still sit here with us not playing the type of football that I want us to play or that we expect to play. It's something that will just continue to coach through, make the necessary adjustments, and get it corrected, which we've got to get done."
So, execution, I guess.
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Funny, he's been saying this for his whole tenure yet everytime you turn a Maryland game on their undisciplined as can be. Their QB is a turnover machine
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I'm wondering if he's just not a practice guy. I was pretty shocked that Milton beat him out and given how things have gone so far this season, I don't think they'll go back to Milton unless Hooker gets injured. Maybe he really just doesn't play well in practice.
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Also, Tennessee didn't start their best QB in that game, who knows what happens if they start Hooker that game. Once Hooker came in their offense improved dramatically.
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I just worry that Pitt has a good o line and Pickett with time looks sharp and their wide receivers do a really good job getting and creating space. Pitt always play us well and we always play them flat it feels. Pitt can flat up put points and sure their defense can be bad but points win games
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If our defense is solid Pitt might still score 35 points. Their offense is dangerous. VT will likely need to score more than they have all season if they want to win. Of course, I said this about unc too 🤷♂️
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Honestly, I think you're stuck in the 90s. This Era of cfb is all about the offense. Offenses are harder to stop. You can play great defense and still give up scores. Our defense is good. I'm not sure it's great. Our offense will need to score against Pitt to win.
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Stuck in the 90's would be you need 21 points to win 9 times out of 10.
That is obliviously different now, but good defenses will still not allow 30+ points unless the offense is turning the ball over inside their own 40, or the team's style of play is predicated on them winning 49+ to 35.
VT is definitely not going to be scoring or have the style to score 40+. If VT has any semblance of offense vs Pitt, Pitt shouldn't have enough time to have 10+ play 70 yd drives to score 30+ against a top 25 defense
Though honestly it really doesn't matter cause the defense will have to hold Pitt to around 20 for a realistic chance, which is asking them to do more than their fair share imo.
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We'll use the same gameplan we used for UNC. Ball Control offense to dominate the time of possession and keep their offense off the field. No chance we win if we get into a shootout or if we don't DOMINATE the time of possession.
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And we could only beat an FCS team by 11 points. Missouri is not good, but they are a Power 5 team. When does it become obvious to Whit that our coaches are the problem?
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At this point he's obviously the most talented out of the group and this staff let him walk. I know I said I'm beating a dead horse about it further down below in another reply, but seeing what he's doing for UT vs. a team like Missouri, while we see what we got from Burmeister vs. a team like Richmond, this staff is just terrible at coaching and evaluation. We can say that until we're blue in the face and folks will obviously still defend them, but whatever, I don't care anymore. The incompetence of this staff has finally broken me.
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Bama up 28-0 on Ole Miss at the half because their defense has been stellar on 3rd and 4th down. Ole Miss has already gone for it 5 times on 4th.
While it's easy to laugh at Lane for this strategy not working this year (kept Bama on their heels for most of the game last year), I still applaud him for having the balls to go aggressive and actually try to beat Alabama. So many teams play conservative and delay their death against Bama, make it look a little better for longer, but never have any shot at winning.
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Cincinnati's passing game against notre dame makes me jealous. Just marched down the field to match notre dames touchdownpass to make it a 4 point game. Back to ten now.
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They're a triple option based team running out of spread formations and have paired it with an aggressive downfield passing game. Plus their QB is really good. Scheme comes mainly from their HC Jamey Chadwell. There was interest among some TKP posters in hiring him last year.
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I don't care what anybody says, we backed the wrong QB. If you can look at how efficient and effective Hooker's statline was today vs. Missouri, compared to Burmeister vs. Richmond...I don't know what else to tell you.
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Not to chase this rabbit down the trail... But I think his offensive coaches are far superior to the one's he had here. I'm not saying we didn't back the wrong QB, but I think Hooker is in a great place for Hooker.
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If you don't care what anybody says, then you probably don't want to hear that both quarterbacks had the option to stay and play for the starting spot.
We're playing the guy that stayed.
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Okay, to look at it from a different perspective, then, is this obviously an indictment of the level of coaching and evaluation on our team versus the level of coaching at Tennessee?
When looking at the results UT has gotten out of Hooker versus the level of competition he's been playing against, as compared to the results we've been getting out of Burmeister versus the level of competition he's been playing against (including FCS Richmond)...where did we go wrong in not coaching this kid up enough to where his confidence was shot enough for him to believe he couldn't handle a QB competition and then transferred out to a tougher conference where he's been producing superior results against superior competition?
This staff obviously failed him somewhere along the line, and our loss is obviously another team's gain.
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Did they shake his confidence or was he tired of constantly having to prove he was the better option when his performance in games bore that out? I'd leave if it's clear my coaches don't believe in me.
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Exactly. Which has now led to us having to depend on a starting QB who's admittedly playing sore/beat-up because we have no other options behind him we can depend on, and has to swing his arms like a wind turbine just to keep a feel for the ball in-game.
Meanwhile, Hooker's in the SEC accounting for 300+ all purpose yards, 4 TDs, and a 95.3 QBR versus the likes of Mizzou.
It's frustrating.
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I tend to agree with you. The season so far has shown that HH (and to a lesser degree QP) had good reason to feel there shouldn't have been a competition.
But if Burm HAS been playing hurt, an extra week's rest may have a positive effect on his accuracy. We'll know more after the Notre Dame game
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Agree on all points. I don't lament hooker as much as QP, all three had the same issue missing the touch throws (I'm probably forgetting some other things, but that's how it resides in my head). I think swap had/has the highest ceiling based on age and frame. I don't get how the coaches didn't just ride that
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where did we go wrong in not coaching this kid up enough to where his confidence was shot enough for him to believe he couldn't handle a QB competition
This is a stretch - It might not have been a confidence issue; he might've just wanted to go somewhere where he wouldn't have to compete for the starting role (Note: when he decided on Tennessee, Pruitt was still the coach, and HH was most likely going to be the starter).
And FWIW, Heupal (Pruitt's replacement) did have a QB competition, and HH lost that. He's only playing because Milton (who looked pretty pedestrian in 2 games) got injured. Maybe HH doesn't look good in practice? I dunno, but it is interesting that our staff isn't the only one that had him as a second string to start the season.
This staff obviously failed him somewhere along the line
This is the crux of the issue - The staff has had 6 QBs in 6 years - Including four composite 4-stars - and only one has lived up to their recruiting ranking. Whether it is an evaluation issue or a development issue (or both) - it's an issue, and no longer acceptable.
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Notre Dame TE Michael Mayer on groin injury: "I kind of hurt it a little bit in camp on and off the first four games and kind of tweaked it pretty bad today, but should be good to go fo V-Tech. Get in with trainers and get healthy and should be good to go."— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) October 2, 2021
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Looking at some scores and the spread all I can say, are people not watching games this year? Wisconsin and ND were favored, has no one watched their games?
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First of all, the spread isn't really meant to be indicator of how close the game will be; it's meant to be an indicator of how close gamblers think the game will be.
Second of all, people are dumb and look at logos more than stats.
Third, Cincy hasn't looked great this year either. They were down 14-0 against a mediocre Indiana until a penalty changed momentum. Even then, they were down at the start of the 4th quarter.
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I'm not lost on the fact that Dax is our version of that guy..."someone that everyone else hates but whom would love to be on their team." Beat the Clemson guys just seem to be extra asshole-ish.
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Dax, like Skalski, lives for the infamy; love to run their mouth, play hard; in general they loved being "that guy".
Occasionally they might step over the line (I think Skalski got a targeting call on Justin Fields, things like that). Dax has come close to getting a flag called for taunting several times.
They find the line and they just tap dance all over it.
Ben Boulware was Rod Farva.
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To avoid you having to tweet us every time Virginia Tech loses as a #23 team, asking if that counts, let's lay out some theoretical conditions for a week to enter eligibility. You will probably need:
At least five ranked teams suffering upset losses (we'll come back to that),
with at least two being top-10 teams at the time.
That doesn't guarantee you're looking at a Blood Week, because maybe some extenuating circumstance meant everyone kinda expected a top-10 team to lose to an unranked team, but it's a good starting point.
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Down goes Florida... We have to start talk about Mark Stoops as a top 10 coach. The fact that he is able to win 8-9 games a year, every year, in the SEC, with the 31st most talented roster in America, is really impressive.
Not only that, he arguable has the best job in America - he gets SEC coaching money, but his fanbase is happy if they win 7 games. I'd love to get him at VT, but I doubt it would ever happen.
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How does he fly under the radar when coaching searches kick off? I have to admit I have not paid attention to KY and have not kept up with how well he has done. Now that you bring it up he would be an interesting hire if a program was looking for an existing P5 head coach.
I wonder what the reason may be that he is not listed on many P5 coaching searches short lists.
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He's not interested. He makes >$5m/year, and his contract is automatically extended every year for winning 7 GAMES(!!!). His boosters aren't demanding of him; they just want him to keep the basketball offseason fun. He does that year in, year out.
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I'm not so sure of that... No sauces, just a hunch, I think our next coaching staff will have competitive salaries. I'll wager >$6.5m for HC, OC, & DC. Time will tell...
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I can't see the B10 being left out. They have 4 undefeated teams remaining (Iowa, PSU, Mich, Mich St), plus OSU (who is guaranteed a playoff bid when they lose early).
No way Coastal gets in with their schedule.
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I think we are getting in to the meat of the B10 schedule. They are all going to start knocking each other off. I don't think any of them survive the gauntlet.
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Off topic, but it's really tough to rank 25 teams this year. There's a top 2 (Bama/UGA), then PSU/Iowa/Cincy, then... idk. Kentucky probably has the best win of any team other than my current top 5. OU doesn't look good, but they're undefeated with wins over decent teams. Michigan, Wake, BYU are all undefeated over meh teams. Coastal Carolina looks amazing but hasn't played anyone. Then you have ten or so traditional powers teams that have already lost to some okay teams...
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I mean honestly Arkansas might be a top 10 team even after getting dismantled but thats because everyone looks bad this year.
ADDITION: OU has won all P5 games by a TD or less. They are 4 plays from being 1-4. I dont know who's going to beat them but no way they can keep that up.
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They get bailed out again by another team. Didn't deserve to win that game at all but you always fall on a bad snap regardless you never do what he did.
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BC couldn't have shot themselves in the foot more times in the last 3 drives. They were moving the ball with ease then fumbles and penalties and never got points
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Someone on the internet please Photoshop Bo Nix as the greased up deaf guy from family guy and have all the LSU guys be Peter trying to catch him. Absolutely unreal
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Bo Nix is the perfect example of the playmaker QB. He is without a doubt a better "playmaker" in the footballing sense than he is a QB, but having a playmaker at QB can elevate you way above your ceiling for a game or for moments within a game. Players like that tend to not be reliable over the course of a season though, which we've seen with Bo Nix for 2 1/4 seasons now.
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Comments
Miami is not good at tackling. They are very good at targeting.
See I don't think that's targeting. He's trying to get his head away and hits with the shoulder. The targeting rule is screwed up to me
Hits the "defenseless" player above the shoulder tho. I don't know what targeting is
I get that angle but he's not trying to hurt the guy he's trying to jar the ball loose and the receiver drops to the ground really quickly making it worse.
If you take the mindset that protecting the players is more important than how the penalty affects the game it becomes easier to accept
There's too much left to the refs interpretation. Glad they picked this one up though.
I mean, Miami REALLY can't tackle. This is rough.
Manny Diaz could not have looked more defeated on the sideline there squatting in front of his defenders.
Horrible body language from what should be the leader.
Miami is bad
I think you spelled BACK wrong 😂😂😂
So have they all these years, apparently.
Miami is really bad
Announcers talk up the Miami crowd/atmosphere. Immediately shows empty seats.
"This place isn't full...but it sounds full!" *blimp show roughly 15-20k people in stands* lol ooook
It's understood that he meant FOR MIAMI.
It sounded full and was a great atmosphere, FOR MIAMI.
1) you never field that punt inside the 10
2) if you are going to try, you better catch it
Both of these teams suck.
I feel dirty rooting for the Hoos, but it's for the greater good...
/s
As much as I enjoy watching UVA lose, them winning this game is less damaging to us than Miami winning.
Same...UVa is already 0-2 in ACC play, would like Miami to have a similar hole.
"I'm a slasher!
Of prices!"
So are we and every other team in college football that bad, or are we just used to seeing the greatness of Alabama? (Only half serious, half TIC)
You're watching the ACC. ACC teams usually suck. Although this year I think the offensive strategy for most teams is lacking.
Apologies if this has been answered before, but what is the meaning of the 4 symbol on Mendenhall's sweatshirt..?
Is it the goal for wins this season?
Approximate attendance at their spring game?
Seriously I think it's some weird concept of how he says there are four sides of the ball. Offense defense kicking team and punting team.
Edit - I was close. It's actually referring to the fans/stadium atmosphere as the fourth side of the ball. Which is just a lame and weird repackaging of the 12th man.
The four words "doing hard things together."
Good grief!
So, at least we get some fun games to watch in the ACC this year. That's... cool?
Not worried who wins, but every Coastal team having 2 losses helps us a lot.
The ACC champ this year will not be the best team, but rather the one that sucks the least.
2008 vibes
2020 NFCLEAST vibes
Well then, hopefully we'll get to chant "we suck less!, we suck less!" at the end of the season.
Well, as long as that's not UVa.
Gonna admit I'm not worried about Miami anymore they are not bak
I wish for nothing but pain for uva but it is funny hearing Miami's fans boo their team
All teams that suck deserved to be booed by fans.
Diaz has that "I wish I had stayed at Temple" look on his face.
Miami is fucking horrible.
Their fans are worse
What fans? They make Scott stadium look like a packed lambeau field
Bring out the unsportsmanlike chain.
Why do the commentators keep saying "bang the timeout" ? why?
This game is so stupid. I love it.
Bronco doing his best time cop impersonation.
Yeah, that was beyond a head scratcher.
...and he looks like a genius cause it worked
Don't know what to say.
We can beat both of those teams. Let's leave it there. Wow. I feel dumber for even watching that game, and may god have mercy on their souls
That's why I always pull for the asteroid
You too? Wife asked me who I wanted to win, and I said the asteroid. But LOLUVA helps more in the long run for us this year.
And I know there might be hokies out there offended by this, but I hate Miami more.
That was a good outcome for us. Now Miami has a. ACC loss.
Edit: thought they had lost 2 ACC games
UVA has 2, UNC has 2, Miami has 1, GT has 1.
Us, Pitt and Duke have no losses. Boy the coastal should be interesting again....
Can't wait for that exciting WFU v. Pitt ACCCG. Ratings will set an all time low.
We could actually try to compete physically with Pitt, put in a gameplan to beat them and man up. We could always try to do that. I give it 50/50 odds at best. being in lane helps a little.
Doink
"Doink left"... they ain't bak
Really hate both of those teams so much
DOINK
missed it by that much
Slightly OT, but Urban Meyer will soon be available..his NFL stay will be very brief.
Went for 4th and Goal up 14-0 in in late 2nd Q only to lose by a FG.
Hate to see it happen to such a great guy.
If his heart couldn't handle a couple losses in a college season, 12+ losses in the NFL may very well kill him. The man belongs in college. That's his sweet spot. Go to LA and make USC a powerhouse again.
"Vanilla Vick" rocking the Jordan hoop earrings lol
So many fitting Billy Madison gifs to describe that game. That ending, though:
How did I not know Florida State is 0-4??? And they're playing a 3-1 Syracuse team, but FSU is favored to win???
This might be the most fitting description of ACC football right here
you could say that Norvell's situation in Tallahassee is...FRAGILE
via GIPHY
Must be Italian!
And da u is 2-3. All is good!
Sorry to my brain cells that withered away last night due to watching the entire UVA-Miami game.
I am sad.
the Is Miami Bak Yet website is down.
Unsad yourself, friend
It's from the Wayback machine, so the counter no longer functions.
But the fact that "isMiamiBakYet.com" is now inoperable and archived somehow takes it to a new level.
ismiamibakyet.com
Up and running as of Friday October 01, 2021 at 3:11 PM EST.
Doing the Lord's work, PailHolder.
The certificate must expire at the end of September because their bakness ends by October
And this gets repeated EVERY YEAR.
A Gordon Gekko quote comes to mind here, hearing about UVa beating Miami.
It's just too bad they couldn't BOTH lose, though this was about as close to that as we could get.
If we had an offense that was putting up 30+ Points/game, I'd be confident in us walloping both of those pathetic coastal teams from last night.
This is the saddest part to me. If we had any type of consistent offense I'd be feeling pretty pretty good about our chances to win the coastal. Everyone is really just as equally bad though and I don't see us getting out unscathed.
Thankfully were in a good position as anybody to win it, we control our own destiny and every remaining conference game is winnable I do belive pitt is a bad matchup for us and we will get killed however knowing pitt theyll drop some headscratchers somehow giving us the costal crown.
That's why other teams taking those losses helps us in the long run. We, as fans, know the team will drop games.
We might lose to Pitt. Maybe BC or Miami. At 6-2, we could be on our way to Charlotte as long as tiebreakers hold in our favor.
We have reached the point in our decline where we truly believe we will need help to win the worst division in the P5. It's a sad state to be in. It could be worse, sure. But it could be a hell of a lot better too
Optimists: Hey guys we might win the Coastal again after all these years!
Realists: We have a shot at the Coastal this year, possibly even win it.
Pessimists: We're going to need help win in the worst division in college football, oh how far we've fallen!
Please get help. Pls.
Optimists: Hey guys, we're going to win the Coastal
Realists: Hey guys, we can win the Coastal this year because everyone sucks. We'll probably take some losses though so we're going to need help to get there
Pessimists: We suck and there is no chance we're going to win another football game ever again
FTFY
Your calibrations are off. I am allowed to be a realist and also be disappointed that our team might need help against a historically bad division. And you can fuck right off with personal advice, thank you very much.
Geeze, is it always like this here??
only for the last 3 years
If Fu and co. can't compete in this division, what makes schools like Baylor, etc. think they can win in the Big 12? this division is terrible, and we have a win in hand against UNC. If we can't win the coastal this year, it's sad honestly
hell, I'd take 28 PPG at this point. We score 28 against WVU that's a win. 28 vs Richmond and we're less likely to be spending two weeks psycho analyzing every aspect of the offense. 28ppg gets us to 4-0 and looking more favorably at this bye week.
So what are the Odds that Manny is actually on a hotter seat than Fuente right now? They beat Appy State by a safety that was caused by a bad snap. They beat a coastal Connecticut team that is down right horrible.
Manny Diaz is definitely on a hotter seat at this point in the season. Miami is having a terrible season compared to expectations (preseason win total was 9.5). History under Diaz says they may collapse and I don't think he makes it through. Fuente is in good shape at this moment but the team has to keep winning or he will be right there with Diaz.
I agree with this completely. Diaz is sitting on 2-3 and his team has looked pretty poor in every outing. Fuente is sitting on 3-1 with a 1-0 conference record. Even though it hasn't always looked good, the defense is solid and the players don't seem to quit at all. That Miami team is likely to fold by the middle of this month. VT still has a lot to play for. Getting ND and Pitt back-to-back is tough but with Cuse, Duke, UVa, and funnily enough, Miami still on the schedule Fuente has a good shot at steadying the ship at the end of the year if he stumbles in October.
Also, Miami just lost in pathetic fashion to UVa.
That's humiliation, no matter how you slice it.
via GIPHY
Yeah he's 100% on a hotter seat. He's doing less with more and I'll be impressed if he makes it through the season. We're not getting rid of Fu before the season ends.
Manny's Di-ayz are limited
He won't be coaching Manny more games for Miami
Agreed. Never understood this hire. It was a lazy move on Miami's part IMO.
Especially when you consider they had to pay Temple 4 million for their coach of 1 week.
But but but I thought the u be back!
This might be Friday optimism (and I'm not discounting the VERY accurate assessments of productivity/competence, AND I know it's all conjecture at this point in the season AND...ok I think I've hedged enough), buuuut:
IF - WV nearly beat (4)oklahoma (who may or may not have nearly lost to Tulane,also) and assuming they take it to Texas Tech
AND
IF - Maryland (which barely beat WV) and can at least give (5)Iowa a scare and is generally assumed to be a bottom dweller
THEN::I posit one of two things:
1. Our one loss isn't really that bad
OR
2. Everyone sucks
(3. Tulane is heading to a championship in the next year or two!)
The transitive property always works in college football don't @ me
But seriously it's probably both
You forgot one key part: Maryland is only good in the month of September. They beat a decent P5 team like Texas or WVU, destroy Howard by 70, and one or two other medium to small wins before they blow it against the good Big 10 teams. It's been this way for years (similar pattern in 2020 despite the weird season).
Not surprised that Iowa is up 35-7 one bit.
I mean - I'm not sure I've ever paid enough attention to have "forgotten" that but it does ring true.
And as of writing this it's now 44-15 with ALOT (1.33 quarters) left to play. The COMEBACK IS ON!
But yeah that was definitely Friday optimism...it's just everyone sucks
Narrator:
Good.
The only sad part of that story is that they were able to beat WV.
Aged like a bleu cheese on some red velvet cake.
Bad takes everywhere
I don't care what everyone else says but I love how Iowa play, old school but damn it's beautiful
I don't see anything old school about this Iowa team (other than "grit")
Tulsa is 1-3 and losing 28-3 at half. Maybe Tulsa will be on the market for a new coach 🤔
Why did this get downvoted? Interesting point, especially if Fuente is feeling the heat, not sure what opportunity might come along that he'd jump ship for.
Because people don't want to hear Fuente talk in the other games thread. It's unnecessary noise
The crew at Iowa Maryland just said that a real hot thing in the past 6-8 years was playing starters on special teams, and because of the lack kickoff rules it makes sense to do and is a game changer.
How quickly we forget.
Just checked the Maryland score. Was watching movies with the wife and not checking my phone (we were kicking it old school). Just now seeing Maryland getting their asses handed to them.
As a former Marylander who grew up there, their pain feeds me
Except that injury in the 1st half. Ugh. Hope Demus is okay, he is a talent.
The only thing that would have been better would have been if I had watched it.
So, execution, I guess.
Dammit Locksley don't you know anything
Funny, he's been saying this for his whole tenure yet everytime you turn a Maryland game on their undisciplined as can be. Their QB is a turnover machine
I am kicking myself for not betting the house on Iowa-3
MD = 6 INTs!
Puts a whole new meaning to "Pick 6," doesn't it?
I dunno why but I very much want Luke Fickell to VT
I wouldn't hate it but seems unlikely. Maybe we can go after their oc?
Would be nice but zero chance of that.
For starters the guy loves Ohio. More importantly though when he feels like leaving Cincy he will have much better options than us.
And if he stays on at Cincy, he's guaranteed to be in a much better conference in two seasons. Even less incentive to leave.
Is the big 12 sans OK really a much better conference than the acc?
LOL absolutely not.
They do have much better television commentators so they have that going tmfor them.
Probably not. I was referring more to the upgrade from the American.
Third straight start for Hendon Hooker with Milton back healthy. It's probably safe to say he's now won this job moving forward.
As I was typing that he just hit a beautiful 35 yard strike for a TD on their first drive.
I'm wondering if he's just not a practice guy. I was pretty shocked that Milton beat him out and given how things have gone so far this season, I don't think they'll go back to Milton unless Hooker gets injured. Maybe he really just doesn't play well in practice.
GT and Pitt look really good. The game is pretty even despite the score (GT QB was inted on two batted balls, one was returned for a TD).
Pitt looking decent against GT so far.
GT hurt themselves pretty early on turnovers. Addison is a solid receiver for Pitt.
Edit: These are both decent football teams. Pitt leading 28-14, but GT not giving up.
Football teams who have both lost to MAC teams.
No excuses, we should beat both of these teams.
Pitt beat an SEC team.
That's not how any of this works.
Pitt has a decent offense, but their defense is beatable.
Pitt lost to Western Michigan after doing that.
Also, Tennessee didn't start their best QB in that game, who knows what happens if they start Hooker that game. Once Hooker came in their offense improved dramatically.
Tennessee lost last week, too.
So I guess not enough.
They played a top 10 Florida team last week who almost beat Bama lol.
Imagine using that as a comparison point.
Pitt worries me their offense is very good their defense is beatable but can our offense keep up if it gets to a shoot out?
This is the primary concern for sure. VT fans are no strangers to watching our offense make mediocre to bad defenses look good.
Seems like every defense we play has their "get back" game against us.
I just worry that Pitt has a good o line and Pickett with time looks sharp and their wide receivers do a really good job getting and creating space. Pitt always play us well and we always play them flat it feels. Pitt can flat up put points and sure their defense can be bad but points win games
Our offense won't be able to keep up with Pitt.
Hopefully, our defense is solid when we play them.
If our defense is solid Pitt might still score 35 points. Their offense is dangerous. VT will likely need to score more than they have all season if they want to win. Of course, I said this about unc too 🤷♂️
If Pitt scores 35, or defense isn't solid enough.
But yeah, VT will be needing to work out some things on offense that we haven't seen so far for any chance to beat Pitt.
Honestly, I think you're stuck in the 90s. This Era of cfb is all about the offense. Offenses are harder to stop. You can play great defense and still give up scores. Our defense is good. I'm not sure it's great. Our offense will need to score against Pitt to win.
I'm not sure that's true. Have a look at Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson.
What's the average number of points scored on them?
Sure, you do need an offense, but these teams are very solid on defense, too. These days, you generally need both.
Not necessarily. I think defense is just as important.
The last year for example- statistically, it was one of the best offenses in school history, but the defense was so bad that we finish 5-6.
Stuck in the 90's would be you need 21 points to win 9 times out of 10.
That is obliviously different now, but good defenses will still not allow 30+ points unless the offense is turning the ball over inside their own 40, or the team's style of play is predicated on them winning 49+ to 35.
VT is definitely not going to be scoring or have the style to score 40+. If VT has any semblance of offense vs Pitt, Pitt shouldn't have enough time to have 10+ play 70 yd drives to score 30+ against a top 25 defense
Though honestly it really doesn't matter cause the defense will have to hold Pitt to around 20 for a realistic chance, which is asking them to do more than their fair share imo.
We'll use the same gameplan we used for UNC. Ball Control offense to dominate the time of possession and keep their offense off the field. No chance we win if we get into a shootout or if we don't DOMINATE the time of possession.
Notre Dame getting the refs to pick up an obvious roughing the passer call. I can't stand the fighting Irish
Any other team, and that call sticks.
Also, on the same play, it looked a lot like PI, where the defender definitely had a hand on the receiver.
Must be the "Bribing Irish", am I right?
...and they're ACC refs.
Turns out Notre Dame gets to rough the passer a little.
Ref calls it correctly, and then picks up the flag.
Along with having to watch it through the "ND" feed make it even worse. Come on bearcats
Oddly, I'd rather have Notre Dame win this week, and lose next week.
By ND feed, do you mean NBC?
That would be my ideal scenario as well but I'll take a ND loss any day of the week.
And yeah I mean the NBC feed even though tirico usually does a fair job he goes silent sometimes like that
Somebody somewhere is going to call Arkansas overrated.
They shouldn't just yet. Georgia is just on a rampage.
Sure would be nice if we could have a QB like Hooker
Sure would be nice if we had one thread where people could criticize Fuente.
Oh, yeah, we already had a bunch of those.
Sure would be nice if folks could just leave it alone instead of hijacking subthreads and posts with repeat discussions.
Oh yeah, we already had a bunch of those.
That's all I'm saying.
Fuente is done with Hooker and hoping he can be good enough to keep his job until Orji arrives.
love the phrasing!
Notre Dames defense looks questionable. Cincinnati are in control and haven't done anything radical really
Cincinnati's wide receiver coach has to be smiling like a Cheshire cat. The wide receivers are getting separation and making great plays.
Except on that last play where 27 got away with two separate blatant holds to prevent a TD
I'll be the fourth or so person to talk about how Hendon tore it up today
And we could only beat an FCS team by 11 points. Missouri is not good, but they are a Power 5 team. When does it become obvious to Whit that our coaches are the problem?
At this point he's obviously the most talented out of the group and this staff let him walk. I know I said I'm beating a dead horse about it further down below in another reply, but seeing what he's doing for UT vs. a team like Missouri, while we see what we got from Burmeister vs. a team like Richmond, this staff is just terrible at coaching and evaluation. We can say that until we're blue in the face and folks will obviously still defend them, but whatever, I don't care anymore. The incompetence of this staff has finally broken me.
the cousins are also getting shut out at home by Texas tech at half lol. This year is just 🗑
oof
The translative property in college football is non existent this year....
for our sakes, I dearly hope not
On one hand, it makes us look terrible.
On the other... well, ya hate to see it.
Bama up 28-0 on Ole Miss at the half because their defense has been stellar on 3rd and 4th down. Ole Miss has already gone for it 5 times on 4th.
While it's easy to laugh at Lane for this strategy not working this year (kept Bama on their heels for most of the game last year), I still applaud him for having the balls to go aggressive and actually try to beat Alabama. So many teams play conservative and delay their death against Bama, make it look a little better for longer, but never have any shot at winning.
Cincinnati's passing game against notre dame makes me jealous. Just marched down the field to match notre dames touchdownpass to make it a 4 point game. Back to ten now.
.
They're a triple option based team running out of spread formations and have paired it with an aggressive downfield passing game. Plus their QB is really good. Scheme comes mainly from their HC Jamey Chadwell. There was interest among some TKP posters in hiring him last year.
Chadwell (the HC) would be one of my top choices to replace Fuente. Most fun offense to watch in CFB IMO.
Day-um..... Cincy beat ND in South Bend
When ND was supposedly good.
Ridder is the real deal. Right now he's running around their field with a Cincinnati flag.
Is this ND loss good for us or bad. Is it better to get a cocky team or a wounded team?
I called Cincy winning after week three. Of course, I thought Wiscy was going to be their typical good team.
I don't care what anybody says, we backed the wrong QB. If you can look at how efficient and effective Hooker's statline was today vs. Missouri, compared to Burmeister vs. Richmond...I don't know what else to tell you.
Not to chase this rabbit down the trail... But I think his offensive coaches are far superior to the one's he had here. I'm not saying we didn't back the wrong QB, but I think Hooker is in a great place for Hooker.
If you don't care what anybody says, then you probably don't want to hear that both quarterbacks had the option to stay and play for the starting spot.
We're playing the guy that stayed.
Beating a dead horse here, but what does that say about our coaching and evaluation that we ran the obviously superior prospect out of town?
It says you think we ran him out of town.
Hendon Hooker was in the Transfer Portal before last season, too. Nobody ran him out of town.
Yea, I'll second Brockman here - by all accounts (and history), our coaches were open to a QB competition. HH and QP were not 🤷♂️
Okay, to look at it from a different perspective, then, is this obviously an indictment of the level of coaching and evaluation on our team versus the level of coaching at Tennessee?
When looking at the results UT has gotten out of Hooker versus the level of competition he's been playing against, as compared to the results we've been getting out of Burmeister versus the level of competition he's been playing against (including FCS Richmond)...where did we go wrong in not coaching this kid up enough to where his confidence was shot enough for him to believe he couldn't handle a QB competition and then transferred out to a tougher conference where he's been producing superior results against superior competition?
This staff obviously failed him somewhere along the line, and our loss is obviously another team's gain.
Did they shake his confidence or was he tired of constantly having to prove he was the better option when his performance in games bore that out? I'd leave if it's clear my coaches don't believe in me.
Exactly. Which has now led to us having to depend on a starting QB who's admittedly playing sore/beat-up because we have no other options behind him we can depend on, and has to swing his arms like a wind turbine just to keep a feel for the ball in-game.
Meanwhile, Hooker's in the SEC accounting for 300+ all purpose yards, 4 TDs, and a 95.3 QBR versus the likes of Mizzou.
It's frustrating.
I tend to agree with you. The season so far has shown that HH (and to a lesser degree QP) had good reason to feel there shouldn't have been a competition.
But if Burm HAS been playing hurt, an extra week's rest may have a positive effect on his accuracy. We'll know more after the Notre Dame game
Agree on all points. I don't lament hooker as much as QP, all three had the same issue missing the touch throws (I'm probably forgetting some other things, but that's how it resides in my head). I think swap had/has the highest ceiling based on age and frame. I don't get how the coaches didn't just ride that
This is a stretch - It might not have been a confidence issue; he might've just wanted to go somewhere where he wouldn't have to compete for the starting role (Note: when he decided on Tennessee, Pruitt was still the coach, and HH was most likely going to be the starter).
And FWIW, Heupal (Pruitt's replacement) did have a QB competition, and HH lost that. He's only playing because Milton (who looked pretty pedestrian in 2 games) got injured. Maybe HH doesn't look good in practice? I dunno, but it is interesting that our staff isn't the only one that had him as a second string to start the season.
This is the crux of the issue - The staff has had 6 QBs in 6 years - Including four composite 4-stars - and only one has lived up to their recruiting ranking. Whether it is an evaluation issue or a development issue (or both) - it's an issue, and no longer acceptable.
Mayer looked hurt either knee or groin and if he can't make the trip next Saturday that would be a big news
Hoping he's at least slowed down
He looked to be laboring a bit if anything he may be limited in practice.
Looking at some scores and the spread all I can say, are people not watching games this year? Wisconsin and ND were favored, has no one watched their games?
First of all, the spread isn't really meant to be indicator of how close the game will be; it's meant to be an indicator of how close gamblers think the game will be.
Second of all, people are dumb and look at logos more than stats.
Third, Cincy hasn't looked great this year either. They were down 14-0 against a mediocre Indiana until a penalty changed momentum. Even then, they were down at the start of the 4th quarter.
Oregon just got robbed on live TV.
BC pulling out some sexxxy unis tonight. Genuinely love that look.
Also, is it a requirement that Clemson has an asshole white middle linebacker with a cowboy collar of sorts?
The "Ben Boulware class of 2016 asshole white middle linebacker with a cowboy collar of sorts" is Skalski again this season, I think.
I'm not lost on the fact that Dax is our version of that guy..."someone that everyone else hates but whom would love to be on their team." Beat the Clemson guys just seem to be extra asshole-ish.
Dax, like Skalski, lives for the infamy; love to run their mouth, play hard; in general they loved being "that guy".
Occasionally they might step over the line (I think Skalski got a targeting call on Justin Fields, things like that). Dax has come close to getting a flag called for taunting several times.
They find the line and they just tap dance all over it.
Ben Boulware was Rod Farva.
Honestly FAM... I might get the ID Police for $9.99.
Some carnage in the top 10 today! Oregon, Arkansas, notre dame, Florida all go down
#15 A&M, #21 Baylor, #25 Clemson also on the ropes right now #bloodweek
Every week has been #bloodweek this year
Per the Shutdown Fullcast, the original proprietors of Blood Week (specifically Jason Kirk), no, we have not yet had a blood week this season.
I didn't realize that was actually a thing. TIL
A&M and Baylor down! Clemson might survive but #22 Auburn in danger tonight too at LSU
Baylor was beaten by the #19 team, so not really an upset, but still noteworthy. I don't feel great about UCLA beating ASU either.
BC👀
Hafley has them playing really well.
He will be a hot coaching candidate for lots of jobs.
It's pretty rare to poach another HC from your own conference but he is a guy I would have no problem seeing in O&M
He better not interview with anyone if he wants to keep his job.
Lol ol J.J. Fuck that guy.
Down goes Florida... We have to start talk about Mark Stoops as a top 10 coach. The fact that he is able to win 8-9 games a year, every year, in the SEC, with the 31st most talented roster in America, is really impressive.
Not only that, he arguable has the best job in America - he gets SEC coaching money, but his fanbase is happy if they win 7 games. I'd love to get him at VT, but I doubt it would ever happen.
How does he fly under the radar when coaching searches kick off? I have to admit I have not paid attention to KY and have not kept up with how well he has done. Now that you bring it up he would be an interesting hire if a program was looking for an existing P5 head coach.
I wonder what the reason may be that he is not listed on many P5 coaching searches short lists.
He's not interested. He makes >$5m/year, and his contract is automatically extended every year for winning 7 GAMES(!!!). His boosters aren't demanding of him; they just want him to keep the basketball offseason fun. He does that year in, year out.
Ouch. Never would have thought that. Well if we go looking for a coach
I'm not so sure of that... No sauces, just a hunch, I think our next coaching staff will have competitive salaries. I'll wager >$6.5m for HC, OC, & DC. Time will tell...
I don't really care how much they're paid. I want results.
we may be on the brink of needing to do this ourselves
kinda /s, but kinda not
I'd like to be pleasantly surprised by VT Football for the rest of the season.
And if so—and that's a big if—CornFu will have my kudos.
Bc qb has had some big misses tonight. Bc could be up two scores with better execution
It's their backup since Jurkovic broke his wrist
They would have been a great team this year with Jurkovic
Would have been battling it out for the Atlantic for sure with Jurk. They probably win tonight with him healthy.
South Carolina with the boneheaded drop the ball on the way to the endzone at the 1 yard line. I try and link
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUjF_qcofKj/?utm_medium=copy_link
These refs are bad. They've missed a few big calls pretty badly. Both ways
OMG BC trying everything to lose this
Adjusting my playoffs prediction:
#1 Bama
#2 Georgia
#3 Cincy
#4 Coastal Carolina
Everyone else is going to beat everyone else
I refuse to believe that the committee will ever let a G5 team in.
With the mediocrity and all the ranked teams losing, they may not have a choice
Which is what I was going for... with everyone beating everyone they may be the only choice.
Never is an understatement. But does Cincy count as a P5 since they are actually a Big XII team?
While I agree with you those are the only teams passing the eye test right now
I can't see the B10 being left out. They have 4 undefeated teams remaining (Iowa, PSU, Mich, Mich St), plus OSU (who is guaranteed a playoff bid when they lose early).
No way Coastal gets in with their schedule.
I think we are getting in to the meat of the B10 schedule. They are all going to start knocking each other off. I don't think any of them survive the gauntlet.
Iowa is their best bet. Michigan looks light-years better thsn they have looked but until they prove it i am not buying it.
EDIT: wording
Also, Ohio State gets in with one loss if they win out. So they still have 5 eligible teams.
Edit: Yeah, what Bar1990 said.
Off topic, but it's really tough to rank 25 teams this year. There's a top 2 (Bama/UGA), then PSU/Iowa/Cincy, then... idk. Kentucky probably has the best win of any team other than my current top 5. OU doesn't look good, but they're undefeated with wins over decent teams. Michigan, Wake, BYU are all undefeated over meh teams. Coastal Carolina looks amazing but hasn't played anyone. Then you have ten or so traditional powers teams that have already lost to some okay teams...
I mean honestly Arkansas might be a top 10 team even after getting dismantled but thats because everyone looks bad this year.
ADDITION: OU has won all P5 games by a TD or less. They are 4 plays from being 1-4. I dont know who's going to beat them but no way they can keep that up.
I'm low on Arkansas because their statement win is against a team who lost their starting qb (TAMU), and Texas is inconsistent.
That said, you're not wrong. One could definitely make an argument for Ark in the top 10. That's what makes ranking teams this season so difficult.
Bo Nix is IN THE ZONE
Damn, didn't he get benched last week too? I see TJ went 0/3 - Did Harsin bench Finley, or is he using him as a change of pace or something?
Clemson escapes
They get bailed out again by another team. Didn't deserve to win that game at all but you always fall on a bad snap regardless you never do what he did.
Did it twice in 3 drives....
The shot clock was about to hit zeros and you could see him panicking on the last one.
BC couldn't have shot themselves in the foot more times in the last 3 drives. They were moving the ball with ease then fumbles and penalties and never got points
Remind you of anyone?
Grossel has got to learn to fall on those loose balls. Hopefully after November.
Someone on the internet please Photoshop Bo Nix as the greased up deaf guy from family guy and have all the LSU guys be Peter trying to catch him. Absolutely unreal
Bo Nix is the perfect example of the playmaker QB. He is without a doubt a better "playmaker" in the footballing sense than he is a QB, but having a playmaker at QB can elevate you way above your ceiling for a game or for moments within a game. Players like that tend to not be reliable over the course of a season though, which we've seen with Bo Nix for 2 1/4 seasons now.
He's the exact sort of QB that I love to watch when playing for other teams. Highly volatile play means a very watchable product
With 9 of the top 25 losing? Did we win or lose the bye week?
Lose? I'd say we would've won if we were still ranked...
Definitely a win. Get healthy and prep for ND, alongside a fairly crazy weekend of results
Wake and Clemson squeaked by too, so we could have had 11 if the ball bounced a bit differently.